UN sets own inquiry of 1999 rampage in East Timor
UN sets own inquiry of 1999 rampage in East Timor
The United Nations will conduct its own inquiry into a 1999 rampage in which Indonesian gangs killed about 1,000 East Timorese, despite pleas from Indonesia and East Timor to leave the probe to them.
The decision by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to go ahead with a review, though announced on Friday, was disclosed to the Security Council over a month ago, said UN chief spokesman Fred Eckhard.
Indonesia and East Timor, a former Portuguese colony occupied by Indonesia after the end of colonial rule, announced plans on Dec. 21 to create a joint commission in hopes of putting behind them any lingering bitterness over the 1999 violence.
In setting up a Commission on Truth and Friendship, Indonesia and East Timor had said they hoped to head off a parallel initiative by Annan, who was considering creating his own expert commission to review whether justice was done.
But Annan did not go along with that plan, Eckhard said on Friday.
"The secretary-general is of the view that the work of the (UN) commission could complement that of the Truth and Friendship Commission, and expresses his hope that the governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste (East Timor) will extend full cooperation to the Commission of Experts," Eckhard said.
An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman said on Saturday the commission set up by the two countries was the only proper way to review the events of 1999 and then move forward.
"With the greatest respect, we feel that it's important to acknowledge the two countries' own efforts in this," Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.
"Not only because they are the most relevant parties but because as a result, the process will directly have beneficial effects to the two countries' future relations rather than something which may be operationally perfect but...is an outside mechanism," he told Reuters in Jakarta.
Asked if Indonesia would cooperate with the U.N. commission, Natalegawa said: "We have expressed the view that the review is redundant and we will work within the commission that has been established with Timor Leste (East Timor)". -- Agencies